Writer – Cary Bates
Artist – Carmine Infantino
Inker – Tony DeZuniga
Colours – Michele Wolfman
Letters – John Costanza

V, the comic book based upon the television series of the same name, is written by Cary Bates, drawn by Carmine Infantino and dives right into the thick of it, assuming the reader already has a passing familiarity with the program. That is not necessarily a bad thing either as it starts things off with a bit of a bang as the main characters are promptly introduced, the villains of the piece are made known and a quick fight takes place between the two. While the creators of this book might begin things already on the fly so to speak, Bates and company do eventually spell out the situation for those readers who might be new to V and its world of reptilian invaders – the short of it being they have come to Earth due to its abundant resources, something their home planet no longer has. The book begins in Los Angeles in the neutral zone where humanity and reptiles co-exist in an uneasy peace and it is here that the small group of resistance fighters led by the man named Ham Tyler are attacked, why they do not know. What they do know is that they have to go on the run if they are to survive the day while on the mothership, Lydia – the woman in charge, questions Diana – captain of the ship in Los Angeles as to why her people are attacking humans and breaking the treaty of the neutral zone. Diana takes the blame but promises to get to the bottom of it while on Earth, the real culprit named Mr. Bates wants to get rid of Ham before Ham gets rid of him. From start to finish, the book is packed full of action and there is little time for any of the players in this story to settle down, much less take a break. Infantino’s artwork is perfectly suited for the story at hand which Bates manages to set at a brisk pace while setting up a nice little mystery that leaves it all off on a cliff-hanger to be solved in the next issue. There is a lot to like about this first outing and it definitely captures the attention of the reader and while one has to naturally assume that the good guys will not defeat the reptilian extraterrestrials, it is hopeful that the title will see them take the fight to them and deliver a few good blows along the way.

3.5 out of 5